I got a pretty good video quality but i gt a cracking sound everytime i strum a chord

this one is played in 50 bpm

Velvet Roger

Mar 9 2009, 04:55 PM

Hey Isac,

Great that you recorded your first video with the acoustic, that's the real spirit!!! :

Comments to assignment #1

First of all, I must say that you did a good job with this take, overall nicely in time and smooth transistioning between chords, well done!

A couple of pointers to keep in mind:

1) I noticed a couple of small timing issues during the first 2 chords of the lesson (Am and C), I thought you were slightly before the beat with the strum of Am (but that's quite difficult to hear for me as the backing track was just starting there in the background). Furthermore, the first 2 notes of the C arpeggio were a bit off timing. Here and there you may be off a tiny, tiny bit with an arpeggio note, however don't worry about that as this is probably completely due to the low BPM (which can also make things a bit harder ). Bottom line is: you nailed the timing!

I noticed that it flows a bit better timing-wise during the upstroke (2nd) part of the video, so that's a great reference for you to look back to.

2) You switch between the chordshapes very well and rather smoothly. Not much to improve here . However, try to minimize the string noises due to not completely fretted notes (example: C chord strum during the 2nd part, when you can hear the string noise).

3) Although the crackling may have been exaggerating it a bit, I have the feeling that you are strumming the chords a bit too hard for such a laid-back ballad kind of rhythm. Try to 'go with the flow'. But again, this is a minor thing

You did very well here Isac.

As the BPM is quite low, are you up for the challenge of doing this again at e.g. 70 bpm whilst waiting for the electric guitars to come back (I am sure you can handle it, based on the video )?

Good luck mate!

superize

Mar 9 2009, 04:59 PM

Sure i can do a faster take later tonight....

and i think your right that i am strumming the chords to hard

Velvet Roger

Mar 9 2009, 05:00 PM

QUOTE (superize @ Mar 9 2009, 04:59 PM)

Sure i can do a faster take later tonight....

and i think your right that i am strumming the chords to hard

It has to be ... as you are a heavy metal guru

superize

Mar 9 2009, 10:14 PM

Ok here is the 75 bpm take.....

It is not so good but its the best i can do atm really tired now

Velvet Roger

Mar 9 2009, 10:22 PM

QUOTE (superize @ Mar 9 2009, 10:14 PM)

Ok here is the 75 bpm take.....

It is not so good but its the best i can do atm really tired now

Hey Isac,

You really nailed it this time mate! Really well done

Regarding timing I don't have anything significant to mention, it was just very nice. Only remark I have is regarding the strumming. You started off excellent, you really went 'with the flow' of the backing, however near 1/2 of the take you started to hit the strings harder during the strums (hence the crackling noise probably). Try thinking about that whilst strumming and the whole take was perfect!

When do you expect to have your electric guitar back? Reason for asking is because the next lesson would really be nice with an electric guitar.

In the meantime, you can work on our Group Exercise and try to memorize the triad patterns, as those are the basic building blocks for you to use later on! In addition, the theory homework given to you in chat yesterday evening should keep you busy as well!

Keep up this good work mate!~

superize

Mar 9 2009, 10:26 PM

QUOTE (Velvet Roger @ Mar 9 2009, 10:22 PM)

Hey Isac,

You really nailed it this time mate! Really well done

Regarding timing I don't have anything significant to mention, it was just very nice. Only remark I have is regarding the strumming. You started off excellent, you really went 'with the flow' of the backing, however near 1/2 of the take you started to hit the strings harder during the strums (hence the crackling noise probably). Try thinking about that whilst strumming and the whole take was perfect!

When do you expect to have your electric guitar back? Reason for asking is because the next lesson would really be nice with an electric guitar.

In the meantime, you can work on our Group Exercise and try to memorize the triad patterns, as those are the basic building blocks for you to use later on! In addition, the theory homework given to you in chat yesterday evening should keep you busy as well!

Keep up this good work mate!~

I really hope i can get my electric guitars back in a day or two........

You did a very good job in this lesson. Playing the whole take in time, with only a very minor glitch at around 0:22 in the video. You switched very nice between the shapes both from major to minor and vertically. Your alternate picking is also good: you used consistent alternate picking and the movement is mostly from your whrist which is good. It's also good that you did not anchor your picking hand with your pinky as this may become a speed-limiting factor later on at high speeds.

The only thing that needs still a bit off work basically is the 'volume changes' which happen during the take, especially during the strumming when you tend to hit harder (probably due to the fast movement as well). Keep this in mind, it's not a big problem at this moment, but useful to keep working on in the future.

One advice: Try, when you are using e.g. a lesson like this to warm-up to also visualize and memorize which of the notes is the root note, which is the third (either major or minor) and which is the fifth. Also play these shapes all over the neck. The ultimate goal should be that you can play the triads in all shapes all over the neck instantly, giving you numerous possibilities to improvise and create music in any key. Remember that all more advanced chords have a triad as the basis, so that's why I give everyone this group exercise.

Keep on going with this great job!

superize

Mar 31 2009, 05:30 PM

Ok here is take on Alice in chains lesson played at 100 bpm.... I cant play the solo good yet

Velvet Roger

Mar 31 2009, 08:18 PM

Hey Isac,

Thanks for uploading a take.

Overall it's looking pretty good, especially the rhythm part (which was the main goal of this lesson anyways ). Here are couple of pointers to work on:

1) You played the rhythm part very confident and with strong picking, which is exactly the feeling that it should have. A minor point: try to also incorporate a little vibrato at the end of bar 4 (0:13 in your video). You played this section nicely in time as well, so nothing to add on that point

2) Regarding the solo part: The first section of the solo (bar 17 - 22), you nicely played the full note bends and played the legato and triplets licks nicely in time. One thing to work on here is the vibrato. You tried to apply it both at the end of bar 20 and 22 however it was very nervous and not wide enough. In order to work on this, try to apply the vibrato from your whrist, and start of very slowly practicing it until you get a very constant movement which fits in with the tempo. You can e.g. use a metronome and start practicing vibrato by vibrating in the tempo of a quarter note, then in the tempo of a eight note and then in the tempo of a sixtheen note. If you practice each day for a couple of minutes your vibrato will certainly improve significantly and becomes much more controlled and solid.

3) The second section of the solo (bar 23 - 26), the same holds true regarding the vibrato, and I noticed that you had quite some difficulty in playing this last part of the solo right in time. I would suggest that you practice this last part very slowly with backing or even metronome to get the timing exactly right and then speed it up again. It's a matter of time to get that right. I also noticed that the full tone bend from B to C# was flat in bar 24.

4) Sound-wise I noticed that you mixed the guitar too loud compared to the backing track. You can certainly put the guitar at a lower volume in the mix as currently sometimes it's quite hard to even hear the drums .

All in all, well done.

I would be more than happy to give you a new assignment at this moment if you like to work a bit more on your solo skills. Alternatively, you may also continue to work on the current solo if you like? Let me know your thoughts!

CheersRoger

superize

Mar 31 2009, 08:23 PM

I would love to have a new lesson to work on and thanks for the tips you gave......

Velvet Roger

Mar 31 2009, 09:23 PM

Ok, will give you a new assignment in a sec. Regardless of that, I would like to stress that you should try to get the solo part of the Alice in Chains lesson right (doesn't take too much time!)

superize

Apr 8 2009, 12:23 PM

Here is the video on the Lydian Phrasing lesson

Velvet Roger

Apr 9 2009, 09:39 PM

QUOTE (superize @ Apr 8 2009, 01:23 PM)

Here is the video on the Lydian Phrasing lesson

Hey Isac,

Thanks for the upload! I have listenened to your take several times and overall I think it is very good. The most important aspect that needs still a bit of extra attention is mainly the vibrato that you are applying to the notes, all the rest is mostly fine!

Let's cut the video a bit more in pieces with some more detailed comments:

Throughout the video you sometimes applied almost no vibrato or if you did very fast/short vibrato. This is most pronounced in the first section (say 0:00 - 0:15) which actually results in less melodic feel, and a bit of disconnected note feeling. A bit more vibrato in this section would do that definitely some good. One thing that would be good for practicing, is actually applying very wide vibrato in your practice routine or if you are just jamming along a backing track - if you do: apply it from the whrist and let it be a constant movement!

Also, some of your bends were a bit off, the bend at 0:15 was flat and the one at 0.26 is slightly too high. Try to practice these bends isolated by bending to the desired note and subsequently play the desired note higher on the fretboard for comparison. It's a matter of time to get that sorted.

Overall, your timing was again very nice, well done! Also the tapping section went good. Of course you noted the unwanted mute at 0:35, but I was really wondering whether you did the pinch harmonic on purpose (I assume you did ).

Finally, I noticed that the video was synced not completely correct with the audio, of course nothing of real importance, but it makes it a bit harder to give good comments

Anyways, good job done and I would suggest we do another lesson focussing on vibrato and bending. I will put it up in a second for you.

CheersRoger

superize

Apr 17 2009, 11:37 AM

Ok here is a take on the group assignment

Velvet Roger

Apr 17 2009, 03:06 PM

Thanks Isac. I will listen to it in the weekend, as I have band practice tonight and before that full-time working unfortunately

CheersRoger

Velvet Roger

Apr 18 2009, 05:18 PM

Hey Isac,

I have listened to your take and will give you some pointers to look at, mostly focussed on the actual assignment, with the rules I gave you.

There were quite a few occassions that you played the wrong chord notes, compared to the backing chords besides the fact that you not always used a different shape of the triads when the chords changed (this is not a big thing for normal playing, but for the sake of the assignment, it's quite important as it will force you to develop better fretboard knowledge playing such an exercise ).

Generally speaking, you followed the assignment more in the beginning of the recording, compared to the latter part, which was probably due to the fact that you tried to spice things up a bit later on. Don't get me wrong, if you are normally soloing you will of course also use other notes than the actual chord tones of the backing, in order to achieve tension (e.g. minor 7th etc). However, this assignment was on purpose very restrictive in the use of notes, as well as in the shapes to use and the mandatory shape shifts during the Blues backing. Per definition, the result of such an assignment can sound quite simplistic and such, but that's perfectly fine.

Let me analyse your take in quite a bit of detail (don't get discouraged by all these comments please :

1st 12 bars

Bar 1+4 (backing: E minor): You played an E minor arpeggio here in the C-shape.

Bar 5+6 (backing: A minor): You played an A minor arpeggio here again in the C-shape with a bit of phrase development, which is nice. The only comment here is that you actually had to switch to either the E-shape or A-shape of the A minor arpeggio instead according to the rules.

Bar 7+8 (backing: E minor): Here you played a G minor arpeggio in the A-shape, which should have been an E minor arpeggio instead.

Bar 9/10 (backing: B minor/A minor): Here you played the root and fifth of a C minor chord using the C minor C-shape. Again, you should have played here a quick shift from B minor to A minor chord tones (only 1 bar per chord).

Bar 11+12 (backing: E minor): You played an E minor (C-shape) here, which was good!

2nd 12 bars

Bar 1+4 (backing: E minor): You continued here with the E minor (c-shape) with good vibrato! and continued using the A-shape which was great for diversity.

Bar 5+6 (backing: A minor): Then you stayed in the E minor (A-shape) for these bars, while you should have switch to the A minor chord tones in either the E-shape or C-shape).

Bar 7+8 (backing: E minor): Here you played a B minor arpeggio in the A shape, which in effect was too early, as you should have played this in bar 9 instead. A E minor arpeggio should have been played here again.

Bar 9/10 (backing: B minor/A minor): Here you played a E minor A shape with an added 9th (F#), instead of Bm and Am. The added 9th is normally of course a nice addition for soloing, but for this assignment not right. Also you did not change the A shape to either E or C shape.

Bar 11+12 (backing: E minor): You ended nicely on the E of the Em (E-shape).

3rd 12 bars

Bar 1+4 (backing: E minor): You continued here with the E of the E minor (E shape) and continued using an E minor (c shape) with the added 9th again. The shifting of the shapes was good!

Bar 5+6 (backing: A minor): You played here a C minor arpeggio (A shape) with a major third as passing note to the minor third. You should have played here a A minor arpeggio in either the A-shape or E shape.

Bar 7+8 (backing: E minor): Here you played a lick using pinch harmonics around the A minor (A shape) with a 4th added. The chord here is wrong, which should have been E minor, and you should also have been shifting to another shape.

Bar 9/10 (backing: B minor/A minor): You started in the last beats of the 10th bar with an E minor (C shape) arpeggio here, whist you should have used the B minor/A minor triads instead here.

Bar 11+12 (backing: E minor): The E minor (C shape) continued from the previous bars, which was good!

If I find some time later today, I will also record a quick take on this backing for reference

I would suggest that you keep practicing the shape shifts e.g. using this backing (you can use any standard blues backing for this exercise), as it really helps if you can on the spot shift positions all over the fretboard. These standard triad shapes can easily be expanded to 7th chords or even further, which enables you to improvise much better in the future without any preparations.

CheersRoger

EDIT: Attached is a very quick and dirty improvised take on part of the backing, in which I used a bit of solo notes and chords exchanged.

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